Woman Arrested After Allegedly Sending Letter to President Trump Poisoned with Ricin
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty President Donald Trump
A woman believed to have sent Donald Trump a letter containing the poison ricin has been arrested at the United States-Canadian border.
The suspect was allegedly found crossing the border from Canada into Buffalo, New York, on Sunday, according to the BBC and the Guardian. She was reportedly carrying a gun and arrested by U.S. authorities.
The letter, which was discovered last week at a White House offsite mail-sorting facility, is believed to have been sent from Quebec. Two tests confirmed the presence of ricin in the letter, which never reached the White House.
There is believed to be no threat to the public at this time.
"The FBI and our U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service partners are investigating a suspicious letter received at a U.S. government mail facility. At this time, there is no known threat to public safety," according to an FBI statement obtained by CNN.
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As prosecutors in Washington, D.C., prepare to file charges against the suspect, her identity has not been released. She is believed to have joint Canadian and French citizenship and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
On Monday, Canadian officials searched a Montreal apartment connected to the woman.
“We believe a total of six letters were sent, one to the White House and five to Texas,” RCMP officer Charles Poirier told the Guardian outside the building. “We can’t confirm that she lived in [the apartment], but it is connected to her.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. If castor beans are chewed and swallowed, the released ricin can cause injury. Ricin can be made from the waste material left over from processing castor beans."
Exposure to ricin can cause death within 36 to 72 hours and there is no known antidote.
